Halo: Combat Evolved
by nomercy745
Summary: This is my challenge project for Spartan Ninja's Halo challenge. What if Noble-6 made it aboard the Pillar of Autumn and met John-117? What would be different and waht would be the same?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is to the Halo Challenge given out by Spartan Ninja. Enjoy! Also I don't own Halo.

Aboard the Pillar of Autumn, Jacob Keyes and John-117 were discussing the current situation. "Commander, I strongly advise you to not go and retrieve the fragment. I'll retrieve it." said the armored Spartan-II.

"Negitive, Master Chief. Halsey was quite clear that only Noble- Six and myself am to handle the piece of Cortana. Now go to Cryo and get preped for the freezer. I want all non-essential personal in cryo for a jump as soon as we leave the system." Keyes said, fingering his grandfathers pipe.

"But sir..." the Master Chief started to object. But Keyes interupted.

"That was an order, not a request!" he said. John gave a sigh of irration and gave Keyes a quick salute before marching back.

"Attention, Commander. Incoming transmission from Noble-Four." radioed Lt. Dominque, the ship's communtication officer.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Keyes responded.

"I'm patch it through." Dominque said, before doing so.

"Noble to Keyes: pad is clear." came the voice of Emile-A239.

"On my way." said Keyes. He climbed aboard closest Pelican and departed.

Back at the Mass Cannon outpost, Chris-B312 (Noble-6), finished killing the last of the Covenat in the area, a Unggoy Major. He wiped the alien's blue blood from his combat knife as Emile radioed him from the cannon's control's. "Six, Time for you to leave. Get the Package to the pad... and get your ass off this planet. I've got your back." Emile told his teammate.

Chris's eyes locked on an incoming Pelican. Soon it was close enought to read the call sign, Echo-419, painted on it's side. "This is Keyes, on hot approach to Platform Delta. Ready to take possession of the Package, Noble." issued forth from both of the Spartan-III's comm's. Noble-6 reached the platform just in time to meet Keye's Pelican. Keyes walked out and took possession of the Cortana Fragment. "Good to see you, Spartan. Halsey assured me I could count on you." he said.

"Not just me, sir..." Chris said, the faces of Carter, Kat, Jun, Jordge, and Emile flashing through his mind.

"They'll be remembered." Keyes told him, putting a helping hand on the armored shoulder. Keyes was just about to walk back onto the Pelican when a massive shadow engulfed the entire complex. Both Spartans and the captain of the Pillar of Autumn looked up in time to see a Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser break through the blood red clouds and advance toward the Autumn. "Cruiser, adjusting heading for the Autumn! Noble Four, I need fire on that criser or we're _not _getting out of here! Do you copy?" Keyes radioed Emile.

"You'll have your window, sir." Emile said, turning the mass driver onto the massive cruiser.

Keyes then turned to his ship. "Bridge, this is the Captain. We have the Package. Returning to the Autumn, over." he to his crew.

"Copy that." replied a Marine on the command deck.

Chris was about to board the ride that would get him off that planet, when a Phantom appeared fromm below the complex. Chris lifted his DMR and fired on the hostile craft. The Unggoy manning one of the side cannons fired on him, forcing him to hide behind the Pelican. The escort Pelican turned to fire on the Phantom, but the Phatom opened fire first with it's main cannon. The other Pelican went down in a firery wreak. Spartan-B312 saw his chance and switched to his rocket launcher. He fired both tubes and quickly reloaded. But the next two were not needed. One rocket flew straight into the crew comparment and exploded, killing all inside, showering all outside in a rainbow shower of blood and guts. The other slammed into the nose of the Phantom killing the pilot. As quickly as it started, the battle was over. The Phantom followed the buring wreak of its last victim down the cliff face. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" shouted Emile. He quickly got out of the controls and ran over to the railing. "Here. I got something for you. I've got a feeling that your going to need it more than me." he said, tearing off his kukri, and threw it at Chris. he caught it with a deft movement of his hand and attached it to his armor.

"Well done, Spartan." said Keyes, before securing him and the Package in the Pelican. Chris boarded the Pelican and was quickly flying toward the Autumn. As he looked out the open hatch, he saw Emile nail the battlecruiser in the charging energy beam. The beam destabilized and destroyed the engines, causing the ship to crash into the plain below. After a few more secounds the Pelican had landed in the bay.

As Keyes showed Chris were Cryo was, he got a message from Lt. Dominque. "Sir, we got an encrypted message from Sword Base. It says it's from 4UNT13_D0T, and it's huge. A couple of terrabytes at least." she said.

Chris tapped on Keyes shoulder. He leaned close to the Spartan. "I know what it is. It's the Noble Team AI, Auntie Dot." Chris told the captain.

The captain nodded. "I'll allow it." he told the towering marine. "Lieutenant, it's an AI. Download it and have it meet me in my quarters." he keyed the Bridge. Suddenly the whole ship shuddered as the ship blasted into orbit. Everything floated for a brief moment before setteling back down. "Get setteled and then hop into the frezzer. We're going to jump once the ship is clear of the system." Keyes ordered the Spartan-III.

"Aye, sir." said one of the last remaing members of the heroic Noble Team.


	2. Reveille Part 1

A/N: I don't own Halo. Also please review.

Just outside the orbit of the gas giant Threshold, the battered Halycon Class Crusier _The Pillar of Autumn _blinked in exinstence from the no-space known as Slipspace. Once the aging ship was cleared, it launched it's legions of Longsword escort fighters.

In the bridge, Keyes faced the Autumns three different AI's. One is Cortana, John-117's AI, whose avatar was that of a young women in her early twenty. Another AI is Auntie Dot, Chris-B312's AI, who was represented as an caring old women who was kniting a shawl that was patterned with her siginture diamond pattern. The final AI is Wellsley, the Autumns offical AI, who looked like an middle age male 16th centuary English aristocrat. "Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?" Captain Keyes asked the AI.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Cortana said, astroagtion symbols flashing across her "skin".

"It was a miricle that we escaped at all." said Auntie Dot.

"Indeed, although some of us did _ALL _the work." said Wellsley, glaring at Auntie Dot.

Keyes rubbed his temples in an attempt to stem off a migraine. "We made a blind jump. How did they-" he started to ask.

"Get here first?" The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach... at light speed, my maneuvering options were limited." Cortana interupted and replyed.

"We were running dark, yes?" Keyes asked tha assembled AI's.

All three of them nodded. "Until we decelerated. No one could miss the hole we tore in subspace." Cortana clarified. She gestured to the main screen, which showed the gas giant and a mysterious ring shaped object. Surrounding the ring are dozens of Covenant ships. "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet." she said, highlighting the enemy ships in red.

Keyes studied the situation for a few moments. "So, where do we stand?" he asked the AI's.

"Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket now, nothing serious." Cortana said as bits of Spirits and Banshee drifted by. "But I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS class battle groups, make it three capital ships per group. And in about 90 seconds they'll be all over us." she finished.

"In other words, we are FUBAR." said Dot, stopping knitting for a second to count a stich.

""Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations." Keyes said.

"Everyone, sir?" Cortana and Dot asked.

Keyes nodded with all the authoriaty of Fate itself. "_Everyone._" he repeated. All through out the ship alarms rang out, and the whole ship echoed with the sounds of soldiers preparing for an invasion. "And Cortana, Wellsley,..." Keyes began.

"Hmm?" they both said.

"... let's give our old friends a _warm welcome._" Keyes ordered them.

Both AI's nodded. "I've already begun." they both said.

Down in the main hold, everything was a hive of activity. A UNSC Marine guided a Pelican into a docking position as Cortana's voice issued from loudspeakers. "Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations. 5th Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck 11. 14th Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at bulkhead Charlie 14." she announced.

"You heard the lady! Move like you've got a purpose!" shouted Sergeant Johnson at the Marines under his command.

"This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill." announced Cortana from the COM system.

"Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep'em from gettin' their _filthy_ claws on Earth. But we stumbled onro somethin' they're so hot for, that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine, or a giant hula hoop, we're not gonna let'em have it! What we _will_ let'em have... is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!" Johnson said walking up and down twin coloums of Marines. "_AmI right, Marines?_" he shouted.

"Sir, yes sir!" the assembled Marines shouted back in answer.

"Uh-huh. Damn right, I am. Now move it out! Double time!" he ordered them.

The marines broke rank and ran from the room, to help defend the Autumn. "Attention, all personnel: We are re-engaging the enemy. Internal and external contact imminent." Cortana warned from the COMs.

Johnson smiled, his trigger finger just itching to kill some alien bastards. "All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close... this is gonna be your lucky day." he said to the cavernous room full of bloodthirsty Marines.

In Cryo Room B, only two pods were in use. One contained the Spartan-II Master Chief John-117, and the other Spartan-III Lieutenant Chris-B312. In the Observation Bay, Tech Officer Sam Marcus and Tech Chief Thom Shepard prepared to release the two hyperlethal supersoliders. "Whoa! Sir?" Sam said, pointing to his screen. Thom looked at his screen and started at what he saw.

X - CORTANA 1 0 CRYOSTAR. 23.4.7

X - AUNTIE_DOT 11 CRYOSTAR. 23.4.7

(PRIORITY ALPHA)

(PRIORITY ALPHA)

UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET

RAISE THE LONE WOLF

"Right. Let's thaw them out." Thom said to Sam. They immedientaly went to work to revive the two Spartans from the non-sleep of cryo.

"Okay. Bringing low-level systems online. Cracking the cases in thirty seconds." Sam said. He filled out a few more command lines then announced "They're hot! Blowing the pins in five..." he called out to Thom as he left to meet the UNSC's most deadliest warriors.

The Cryo room was suddenly filled with a shrill hiss as the seals on the two chambers opened. Out of one rose the Master Chief, John-117, a towering figure incased in half a ton of MJOLNIR V armor. Out of the other rose Lieutenant Chris-B312, who cut an imposing figure in his steel grey Scout armor. "Suits show green. Cycles complete." Marcus tolf thom through the COM's.

Thom saluted the two Spartans. "Sorry for the quick thaw, sirs. Things are a little hectic right now. the disorienation should pass quickly." he informed them.

Sam waved to get both Spartans attention. "Welcome back sirs. We'll have you both battle ready stat." he told them.

"Sirs, please look around the room. I need to get a calibration reading for your battle suits diagnostics." Thom said to the two super-soldiers. Both of them looked all over the room until Thom told them to stop. "Good. Thank you sirs." he said.

"I'm bringing your health monitors online, sirs." Sam said, typing things on his terminal. On the Spartans visor appeared their health gauges, which quickly filled in.

Thom accessed their vitals on his palm screen. "Vital signs look normal. No freezer burn. Okay sirs, go ahead and climb out of the cryo tube." he told the armored soldiers. Both Spartans climbed out of the chilly chambers and stepped down to the deck with a thud of their boots.

As both Spartans streched their sore muscles, they took time to eye over the other. John looked and saw, although the other was a good ten years younger than him, an experieanced and deadly warrior. John had Cortana show him Lieutenent Chris-B312's CSV before the station action high above Reach and was impressed with what he read. He was looking at the only other Spartan with a Hyper-leathal rating. Chris looked at the Master Chief and the only thing he felt was a pang of envey. All during training the only thing he heard was hero-worship from everyone, even the instructors. For as long he could remember everyone was fixated on the one Spartan-II that just couldn't die. For as long as he could remember he want to be that famous, and now he was envious for what the Master Chief had. He also knew he would do anything to gain that fame. "I gave you both a double dose of the wake-up stim. Take a quick walk around the cryo bay and join me at the optical diagnostics station when you are both done." Thom ordered, snapping both Spartans out of their daze.

They both quiclky did two laps in the cramped room to ease the stiffness in their joints, the Titanium-A battle plate viberating under their boots. They quickly made their way to the station where Thom stood. "I know the ordance techs usually take care of both of yours targeting sensors, but we're short of time." He explained. He quickly ran both of Spartans through the test and both got perfects.

"I'm ready for the energy shield test now." Sam paged.

Thom nodded to Sam. "Please follow me to the energy shield test station." he told the Spartans.

Cortana's voice issued from the loudspeakers. "Fire teams: Report to defensive positions Alpha through Sierra. Sensors show inbound Covenant boarding craft. Stand by to repel boarders." she said. John and Chris cracked a smile. The enemy was coming, and then they would send them back to the ocean that spawned them.

Soon both Spartans got into the energy shield test station. They went through and soon were fully charged. "Showing green across the board." Sam informed the trio from the control room.

Suddenly the COM erupted into life. "Bridge to Cryo 2, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Spartans to the bridge immediately." Keyes ordered Thom.

"Captain, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostics and I-" Thom started to complain, but Keyes interupted him.

"On the double, _crewman_." Keyes said, a hint a irration creeping into his voice.

"Aye aye, sir." Thom told the captain. He then turned to the two soldiers before him. "The skipper seems jumpy, we'd better get moving. We'll leave you both weapons later." He informed them.

"Okay. I'll leave the self-diagnostics running, at least." Sam told them.

Thom nodded. "Good idea. You'd better get to your evac group, Sam!" he told his assistant.

"Affirmative. Just have to reset the computer and I'm outta here!" Sam said, rapidly typing on the console. Suddenly there was banging on the door to the cryo control room. Dents apeared on the door and alarms started to sound. "Oh God! They're trying to get through the door!" he yelled and lept for the security button. Suddenly the door flew open and a Sangheili Major walked in. "Security! Intruders in Cryo Two!" he said into the mic before hearing a sound behind him. He turned to see the Major raising a Plasma Rifle. "No, please don't-" he tried to plead. The Major grinned and fired. The bolt boiled half of Sam's face away. "Agh." he cried as he fell.

"Sam! Sam!" Thom cried in panic. The Major turned, saw the Spartans in the room below, and fired on them, but the plasma bolts couldn't penatrate the thick glass. The Major roared in fustration, lower jaws spliting wide, and walked out of the chamber. Thom turned to the two Spartans. "C'mon, we've got to get the hell out of here!" he told them. He ran to the door and unlocked it. "This way!" he said, waving to them to follow. Both folowed him out, and the begining of the end begun.

A/N: Since each level is so long, I decided to chop each level into multiple chapters.


	3. Reveille Part 2

A/N: I don't own Halo. 343 Studios does.

Thom sprang through the door and ran to the right, only to find the next door was sealed. He tried to open the door, but before he was able to, a power conduit next to him exploded and hurled his chared corpse back down the hallway. It flew in a short arc before smacking into Noble-6. "What are you doing?" asked Chris-B312 when the Master Chief bent down and picked up the unreconizeable body.

"We both know what the Unggoy and the Kig-yar do to the dead. Thom deserves better than that." John said. Chris nodded, images of desescrated bodies and blood swabbed streets flashing through his mind. John hid Thom under a pair of massive power conduits and valuted over them. He turned to face Chris. "Come on soldier! This way is the quickest route to the command deck." John snapped.

Chris valuted over to join him and they ran through an open door. They soon reached an jammed bulkhead door and crouched under it. "Behind us! They're right behind us!" a crewman yelled as he backpedaled, firing his M6D pistol at several short and one towering figures half obscured by a fog rolling from several torn pipes.

A few more crewmen run past the towering Spartans as the doors inched close. "Secure those blast doors! Move! MOVE!" hollered a Marine at the the crewmen around him.

Two crewmen run from the fog. "Wait for me!" yelled one just before a plasma grenade removed his lower half from existence just inches past the door. The still consious crewman fell onto a pile of his own organs. He screamed until a plasma bolt from a plasma rifle took the top of his head off. As the dead crewman fell forward, the blast door closed with a thud.

The Marine faced the Spartans. "Sirs, the situation's secure here. You're probably need somewhere else!" he informed them.

As they took off, Cortana's voice blared from the Com speakers. "Alert! All hands, boarding parties on port decks Four, Seven, and Twelve. Backer Team move to engage." she ordered.

The two super soldiers made their way through the ship unoppose until they reached the end of a darkened corridor. As the automatic door opened an Sangheili Minor was right in front of them. The mighty Covenant warrior roared as the Spartans sprung into action. The Master Chief ducked under the Sangheili's fist, caught it and twisted it behind it's back. The Minor ripped it's arm out of John's grasped and made the last mistake of it's life. It turned to face the Spartan-II. As the two grappled for control, Chris unleashed Emile's kukri from his shoulder and plunged it into the side of the Sangheili's neck, parting it's version of the jugular artery and both Spartans were bathed in the warriors blood. The warrior's grip slowly slackened and then finally collasped. John threw his oppenents dead weight off him and said to Chris, "We make a good team you and I."

"Yeah, whatever." said the former Noble-6. He spotted the dead alien's plama rifle and picked it up. But after a quick examination he saw it was dead. He through it away in disgust.

They walked through a door and saw a group of Marines making a final stand on the other side. "Spartans, Cortana says get to the bridge, double quick!" the commanding officer told them.

They nodded and bolted toward the bridge. As they ran past groups of Marines and crewmen making stands, They heard Cortana's increasingly frequent reports as teams of Covenant made their way through rapidly dwindeling human fire. Eventually they reached reached a hall near the bridge. A Marine, a one PFC Chips Dubbo, waved them over. "Sir! The Captain nneeds you on the bridge, ASAP! You better follow me." he said.

He turned to leave when more Covenant appeared. He signaled for the two super soldiers to wait a moment, primed his last frag grenade and threw it in the midst of the charging aliens. "This one's for my mother!" he shouted as the grenade detonated and ripped apart the aliens. He turned and escorted the pair through an room full of dead and dying Marines. The air was rich with the smell of blood and burnt flesh. As they left the room they ran into another group of Marines fighting off the Covenant, this time only a several yards from the bridge. "Get clear, sirs." Dubbo said as he unloaded a full clip from his assault rifle into Unggoy Major as it tried to creep up on the baricades. The squat little alien's methane tank sparked and exploded, turning it and several of it's teammates into blue mist. The blast doors suddenly started to close. The Spartans could only watch as the Marines kept the alien bastards at bay until the door closed with a thud. Dubbo lead the Spartans down the short hallway and to the bridge. "Captain Keyes is waiting for you two, sirs!" he said before running off to help stall the Covenant.

The two hyper-lethal warriors made their way through the cramped space until they stood at attention behind Captain Keyes. "Captain Keyes." they said in unison.

Captain Keyes turned and shook both Spartans hands. The Spartans were surprised. Most people balk at the idea of pressing flesh into an armored gauntlet. "Good to see you two. Things aren't going well. The AI's did their best, but we never really had a chance." he informed them.

The holotanks beside the main screen burst to life and the avatars for the _Autumn_'s three AI's materilized. "A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single _Halcyon_-class Cruiser. Given those odds I'm content with three..." Cortana started to say, but paused as if in thought. "Make that four kills." she finished as a Covenant Carrier suddenly erupted like a minutare sun in front of the ship. "Sleep well?" she asked John.

"No thanks to your driving, yes." John said, a ghost of a smile flickering behind his mirroed visor.

"So you _did_ miss me." Cortana said with a smile.

As this was going on Auntie Dot was looking over Chris. "Noble-6, I know that look. Don't try anything rash. You already pushed your luck on Reach, I wouldn't do that again." she told the Spartan-III.

"I have no clue what you are talking about." Chris told her.

Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the ship before Auntie Dot could scold him. The two Spartans were alost thrown off their feet, and Keyes had to catch a pedestal or else he would have joined the rest of the command crew on the deck. "Report!" Keyes barked at the AI's.

"It must have been one of their boarding parties! I'd guess an Antimatter Charge!" Cortana said.

" Covenant boarding parties incoming and their number is increasing rapidly." Wesley informed the captain.

"I'm detecting multiple CCS crusiers moving in." Auntie Dot said, highlighting the ships on the screen.

From the MAC control center below them, a fire control officer called up. "Ma'am! Fire control to the main cannon is ofline!" he shouted, panick crawling into his voice.

"Captain, the cannon was my last offensive option." Cortana said, her voice grim.

Keyes sighed, rubbing his temples. "Alright then. I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article 2. We're abandoning the _Autumn._" he said, announcing it to the whole bridge.

"While you do what, go down with the ship?" asked Cortana.

Keyes smiled. "In a manner of speaking. The object we found, I'm going to try and land the _Autumn_ on it." he said, gesturing to the huge ring-like world just out side the main view port.

"With all due respect, sir, this war has _enough dead heroes._" she told him.

"I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, that means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer. Dot, I want a subroutine from you to handle point defense, so we aren't blown out of space as we make our aproach on the object, then sort yourself for a hard transfer. Welsely, I want you to go to Major Silva's HEV and prepare the entire ODST squad to drop. I want you to leave with her to help by any means nessesary." Keyes ordered the AI's.

"Aye aye, sir." they all say before disappering.

"Which is where you two come in, Spartans. Get Cortana and Auntie Dot off this ship. Keep them safe from the enemy. If they capture either of them, they'll learn everything. Force deployent, weapons research... Earth." he told the two super soldiers.

"I understand." they said at the same time. Chris turned his head and glared at John.

Cortana and Dot reappears. "The _Autumn _will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach." Cortana informed the Captain.

Dot nodded. "My subroutine will continue to provide enough space for the _Autumn_ to enter the objects atmosphere. It will also, God willing, protect the downed ship from the Covenant until the ammo runs out or I remotely deactivate them." she reported.

"Excellent work, you both. Thank you. Are you ready?" Keyes asked.

Both AI's looked around the bridge that served as their home and body. "Yank me." they said with a sigh.

The AI's dissolved and Keyes pulled two data chips out of the command counsle. "Good luck to you both." he said handing the Spartans their respective AI's.

Both Spartans insert their chip into the slot in the back of their helmet. "Hmm... your architecture isn't much different fromm the _Autumn's..._" Cortana told the Chief.

""Dear lord, there really a lot of room up here." Dot thought out loud.

"Don't get any funny ideas." the Spartan-II and -III told their AI's. With that they were finally able to fight even the mightest warrior the Covenat had.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry for not updating for the past month or so. My Computer got hit with a virus that keeps me from acessing the Internet. So Until my computer gets fixed and I can finish the next part of the story it is on a temporary hiatus.


	5. AI Constructs and Cyborgs First Part 1

A/N: I don't own Halo, Master Chief, or Noble-6. They belong to 343 Studios.

Goldman is shiny: In the game, Emile _is_ killed. But in this story, the dropship carrying the Sangheili that killed him was destroyed. Now he has Noble-6's fate from the game.

Keyes turned and handed his pistol to John-117. "I don't keep it loaded, son. You'll have to find ammo as you go." he told the Spartan-II. John took it and saw tha approprite targeting recitle appear on his HUD. "Sorry 6, there isn't another weapon on the bridge. I was streatching regulations just having that one on me." he told the Spartan-III.

"That's alright, sir. I've taken weapons from the Covenant before, and I'll do it again." Chris-B312 informed the Captain. They both saluted Keyes and back through the crowded bridge.

"We need to get off this ship before we're completely overrun by Covenant." Cortana informed both Spartans. John knelt by the body of a dead Marine and policed her pistol ammo and assult rifle.

Chris peered around the corner and saw a trio of Unggoy walking up to the bridge. He selected his sprint ability and dashed toward the lead alien. He ripped it's plasma pistol from it's grasp and crushed it's skull in with an armoured gauntlet. He spun to face the other Unggoy when a plasma grenade whistled past his helmet. It connect with the bulkhead behind him and exploded, the wash of plasma draining John's shields to half as he turned the corner. Chris raised his plama pistol when he heard two pistol shots sound behind and both Unggoy went down with a bullet bursting from the back of its head. "You need to chose your movements and moments more carefully! You nearly got both of us killed!" John snapped at Chris. Chris just glared at him and rushed through the door to a mess hall.

"Those Marines could use some help, Chief! Do what you do best!" Cortana told John as he walked through the doors and right into a plasma bolt. "Keep your head down! There's two of us in here now, remember?" she snapped inside his head.

John crouched behind one of the tables with a group of Marines. He peered over the table to see where Chris was when a group of Unggoy flew over head with enough force to embed their corpses into the _Autumn's_ hull. John saw Chris rise out of his armor lock. Chris spun and turned to face where John was, but as his back was turned a Sangheili Minor locked its arm around Chris's neck and strarted to strangle him. As Chris's vision began to blacken and narrow, he heard Auntie Dot. "Chris, activate your armor lock NOW!" she shouted. Chris's vision went entirely black, but in the last instant of thought left to him he clicked the activation icon for his armor lock.

The mighty Covenant warrior warbled in surprise as the was forced forward on top of the back of the vermin he had around the throat. As he struggled vainly to remove his trapped limb he felt a endless salvo of primitive projectiles flatten and richoet of his shields. He chuckled at the pitiful attempt to kill him, thinking of how good their blood would feel on his claws, until his systems cried a shrill warning. He glanced at his indicator and saw the last of his shields flicker and die. His back erupted in agony as the vermins rounds peirced his flesh and rip through his body, only to have the rounds rebound off the being beneath him and pass back through him. He screamed in agony until a bullet hit him just below the skull, severing the vital link between mind and body, and sent him on the Great Journey.

John leapt out, firng short bursts to scatter the Covenant holed up at the other side of the room, grabbed Chris as the armor lock shut down, and dragged his limp frame back behind the knot of Marine. He grabbed a syringe of wake-up stim and injected it through a port in the armor. For a few moments there was no change, but soon Chris sat up, coughed, and grabbed his brusied throat. "Are you okay, soldier?" John asked. Noble-Six just ignored him as he got up, grabbed the fallen Sangheili's plasma rifle and grenades, and faced the Covenant horde assembling on the far side. John just shrugged, thinking he was just doing the lone wolf act, and leapt over the table, prepared face death.

The two well trained Spartans took opposite sides of the room. John's assult rifle rattled as Chris threw a plasma grenade. The sphere of brilliant plasma flew straight and true to land square on a Sangheili Minor's helemet. The mighty warrior tried to get the helmet off, but failed to do so before it exploded, shattering it's head and killing a group of Unggoy close to it. John's rifle barked and spat death at several soldiers of the mighty Covenant Empire, who quickly fell under his unstoppable onslaught. They quickly cleared the room and ran into the room beyond. John saw a group of Unggoy Majors and Minors that had their backs to him. He took a frag grenade, pulled it's pin, and slid it into the group's midst. The Unggoy grouped around the grenade until it detonated in a thunderclap, shredding their methane rigs and bodies into a splatered pile of gore.

As they ran down a conecting corridor, Keyes announced throughout the ship "Combat Teams on decks Seven and Eight, fall back to secondary defensive positions."

They soon came across a trio of Marines barely fending off a Sangheili Major. John fired a salvo of rounds as Chris cried out "Hey, split-lip!". The Major twirled just in time to catch Chris's plasma grenade on the top of his helmet. The Sangheili cried out in fear as in scrambled to unlock its helmet. Suddenly its body disappeared in a flash of bluish white light and the rest of the body got ripped apart by the shockwave. All five soldiers were bathed in warm purple blood.

As the Marines were complaning, the whole ship was rocked by another titanic explosion. "What the hell? Did something just hit us?" a marine asked.

"Move it! Back to the airlock!" another marine shouted. They raced around the corner to find the door for the airlock. Two of the marines reached the door first to open it in time for a huge burst of plasma to peel back the door like a banana peel and vaporizing the two good soldiers. John and Chris chucked a frag and plasma grenade into the hole before any ranibow colored devil spawn was able to energe. The force of the two grenades going off set off all other grenades in the cramped space. A great tounge of flame flew out, nearly searing the third remaining marine. John peeked around the corner of the door, sure nothing could have survived that infirno. John could barely believe his eyes when he saw a blackend Sangheili stummbled out of the multi-colored mist.

Zuka 'Zamamee felt like his entire body had been roasted by an energy sword as he climbed back out of the cock pit where he had been thrown. As his vison stopped spining, he groaned as he saw there were not one but _two_ Demons ahead of him. Knowing that he was in no condition to fight even an Imp, he resigned himself to his fate. He stared at the green Demon as it raised its primitive handgun and fire. The slug slammed into his helmet and sent him into oblivion. There he laid, knocked out by the bouncing bullet in his helmet, for close to an hour until an troop of Unggoy lead by a major called Yayap came upon him and dragged his limp body off to get treated.

Once John took care of the survivor he took a quick look around. He heard Keyes announce "Reserve Combat Teams on decks Five through Nine, fall back to secondary defensive positions!"

As the Chief made a quick examination he heard Cortana mutter "They're using _our_ lifeboat airlocks to attach their boarding craft. We go out and they come in! Clever bastards...".

John quickly spotted to glowing shapes through the mist and a smile appeared on his lips. "Chris, get in here. I've found a pair of overshields. We might need them." he called out.

Chris walked in, shot him a look, absorbed the alien device, and walked back out. "What's his problem?" Cortana asked Auntie Dot.

"I know what is wrong, but I promised him I would not tell a soul." Dot replied.

John overheard the brief exchange as he jogged after the retreating Spartan-III, hoping to figure out what was up with the mysterious Noble-6 before it got one of them killed. He knew in order to survive the coming weeks they would have to fight together like no other team in history.


	6. Ai Constructs and Cyborgs First Part 2

A/N: As always I don't own Halo. 343 Studios does.

As John and Chris left the area where they killed an entire Covenant boarding party, they soon reached an trio of Marines fighting back a small group of Covenant. "We're taking fire. we could use a hand!" a Marine shouted at them.

Chris crouched beside them and started firing through the slit of a protective combat barrier. John was about to follow when he noticed a corridor that would get him in a perfect flanking postion. He crept down and slit the throat of the Unggoy that guarded the corridor. He peered the corner and saw the wide back of an Sangheili Major. He primed an captured plasma grenade and threw it. It landed true, right on the mighty warrior's grenade belt. The major warbled in surprise and tried to unbuckled it when the grenade detonated. It triggered the other grenades on the belt and the whole corridor was awashed in burning plasma. As Chris stormed over to John, Keyes announced over the Comms. "Ops personnel on decks Nine through Twelve, report to evac stations now!"

Chris stormed past John and walked through a connecting corridor. John ran to join up with his teammate. They made their way through the ship, killing all the Covenant that stood in their path until they reached a small stair case. "Covenant! On the landing above us!" Cortana warned.

"Covenant trying to flank!" Dot cried as a door slid open and a pair of Unggoy ran out. John chucked a plasma grenade that adhered to the mask of one of the Unggoy. The Unggoy managed to get it's mask of before the ball of plasma exploded, sending him and his partner on the Great Journey.

Chris ran up to the landing, throwing a pair of frag grenades in opposite directions. As twin blasts of thunder echoed around the room, he activated his active camo. He crept up the other flight of stairs and snuck behind a dazed Sangheili major. He clicked the activation button on a plasma grenade the major had in it's hand. Before the major knew about it, his entire left side of his body was vaporized and his corpse hit the deck with a slick thud. The other aliens turned and fired. Chris canceled his active camo and triggered his armor lock. Plasma bolts boiled the Titanium-A plating around him until the vaporized metal condensed on the ceiling and fell as a lethal rain. John cursed and got the Marines that were helping them under the stairs. Eventually the barages ended as the Convenant ran out of ammo. Chris slumped to the deck, the effort of the extended use of his amor abliaties proving too much.

An Sangheili Minor walked over to the nonresponsive Demon. He was impressed, and a little frightened, that it had survived an onslaught that would have vaporized an Mgalekgolo. He knelt down and was about to snap the vermin's neck when he felt a burning pain in his back and front. He glanced down and saw a point of a primitive knife jutting out of his chest. His eyes flickered as he heard the sharp barks of a vermin's assult rifle and the screams of dying Unggoy. He felt a fountain of his blood pour out as the knife was wrentched from his he died, he heard the other Demon say "Come on, up you go."

John hurled Chris to his feet. "I hope this does not become a habit, Sir." he said. Chris shrugged his shoulder, his ire rising. He marched over the dead aliens and into the ships depths. John sighed and ran after him.

As he caught up to his grey colored companion, Keyes announced through the Comms, "All hands, this is the Captain. Prepare to abandon ship! Combat Teams, repel boarders until Ops personal are away. Good luck. Keyes out."

They passed a set of window, through which they see the ports of three more escape pods. Plasma torpedos exploded around them. "The lifepods are launching! We should hurry." Cortana informed them.

"I'll try to stall them for as long as I can!" Dot cried.

"All remaining crew and Ops personal, hit the lifeboats! Fall back to evac stations." Keyes announced as the valiant defenders were pushed further back. As they ran past the windows, the three pods launched. The first two made it, but the third wasn't so fortunate. A plasma torpedo collided with it, vaporizing the craft and the crew in the blink of an eye.

"The Covenant are destroying the lifepods... they really don't want us on that ring." Cortana said as they turned the corner. A trio of Unggoy, two minors and a major, were guarding the far end of the corridor. Johns pistol barked twice and Chris's plama rifle spat and the three aliens were dead before their bodies hit the blood soaked deck. "Warning! Blast doors closing!" Cortana cried. The two Spartans turned just to see the door doors collide and seal. "We'll have to use the ship's maintenance access ways. Follow the NAV point, it will lead you to an opening." She advised.

As the two hyper-lethal soldiers stepped over their most recent kills and into the ships depths, Keyes announced "Combat teams Alpha through November, pull out to nearest evac station!" as the ship shuddered from multiple plasma impacts.


	7. AI Constructs and Cyborgs First Part 3

A/N: I don't own Halo. 343 Studios does.

John and Chris entered the access tunnels and switched on their lights. After eliminating two Unggoy that were exploring the tunnels they came up to an exit. As Chris was about to open the hatch a shadow fell against the door. The Spartans melted into the shadows of the tunnel. "I'm detecting Covenant movement outside the access ways. Let's find another way through." Cortana warned. John made his way through until he reached a broken door. "Wait. We need to get through that door, but it's been damaged by an explosion. Analyzing... The door's control mechanism is offline, but it's taken a lot of damage. You should be able to bash it open with the butt of your weapon." Cortana informed him.

John smashed the door open and made for the cryo control room when he heard the first explosion. He whirled around and Chris wasn't behind him. He swore and dashed forward, crushing an Unggoy underfoot as he ran. He turned the corner just in time to see Chris fly face first, and imbed himself, into the wall. "Okay, now that hurt." Chris said as he peeled himself off the wall.

John sprinted ahead and turned another corner to face an enraged Sangeheili major. The major swung and its fist collided with the side of John's head. Dazed, John managed tho duck the next swing and pulled out his pistol. He shoved it upwards between the aliens lower maniables and fired. The round took the top of the Sangheili's head off, splattering bits of bone and blood across the ceiling. He turned the corner just in time to see Chris rip the last Unggoy's head clear off it's shoulders. As they met up in the hall, Keyes announced "Combat Teams Sierra through Victor, prepare for evac!"

"Let's keep moving. We need to get off this ship before it's destroyed." Chris said. They left the hall and soon came to the Cryo control room. John knelt and closed Sam's one remaining eye.

Plasma splashed across the window. They both looked below to see a Sangheili major directing two minors toward the door. "It looks like the Covenant wantedto catch both of you napping." Cortana mused.

"Give me a second." Dot said. She sealed the doors and activated the fire supression sytem. Deadly carbon dioxide flooded the room, and soon the three mightly aliens were fighting to breathe and were soon dead.

They left the control room and saw a Sangheili minor at the end of the hall. They opened fire and ran foward to meet the new threat. The minor roared as its shields collapsed. It prepared to throw a plasma grenade when an explosion shook the ship and an fireball enveloped the alien. It roared as it was incinerated. Chris turned the corner and meet a mob of Unggoy. He prepped his plasma pistol and was about to fire when John tackled him. "What are you doing?" Chris roared when another explosion roared and the Unggoy were incinerated.

As John helped Chris to his feet, Keyes announced the the Comms "All combat personnel, fall back to tertiary defensive postions!"

The two Spartans had to enter the access ways again inorder to proceded farther along the ship. After exiting the tunnels and helping some Marines stop an Covenant assult, Cortana let out a warning "The damage to the superstructure is extensive... I don't know how much more abuse the _Autumn _can take."

As they cleared an area full of Unggoy, Keyes blared out "All combat teams, fall back to secondary defensive postions!"

John and Chris fought their way through a sea of Covenant to the area next to a airlock. Working in tandem with some surviving Marines they made short work of the last of the Covenant. "There's one last lifeboat! Quickly, get aboard before it launches!" Cortana cried.

Chris ran into the pod, and John was about to do the same when the last Marine fell to the floor, thrown there by an explosion. "Oh no, oh no!" he wailed. John scooped him up and threw him into the pod.

John was checking to make sure the coast was clear when Cortana informed "Now would be a _very _good time to leave."

John entered the life boat and sealed the door. "Punch it." he told the pilot.

"Aye aye, Sir!" she said, sealing her visor. They launched and she announced "We're disengaged. Goin' for minimum safe distance."

One of the Marines looked at Chris and asked "We're gonna make it, aren't we, sir? I don't wanna die out here!"

Chris shook his head. "If you didn't want to die in space then why did you join?" he shot back.

The marine made to say something, but John interveined. "Quit it, both of you." he said.

Chris was about to say something when Cortana cried "Look!"

Both Spartans crouched behind the pilot as the object swung into view and the pod began to drop toward it. "What _is_ that thing, Lieutenant?" a marine asked.

"Hell if I knwo, but we're landin' on it!" the pilot answered.

"The _Autumn_! She's been hit!" a marine yelled.

Both Spartans rushed to the back hatch. Cortana swore, "I knew it! The _Autum_'s accelerating. Keyes is going in manually!" she said. The ship flew over the pod, multiple plasma torpedo strikes impacting its failing hull.

"Heads up, everyone, this is it! We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five!" the pilot warned.

"Sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" Cortana and Dot asked their respective partner.

"We'll be fine." came the answer.

John gripped the sides of the craft and bent his knees. Chris preped his armor lock. "If I still had fingers, they'd be crossed..." Cortana muummered as they hit the rings atmosphere.


	8. Flawless Cowboy Part 1

A/N: As always, I don't own Halo, Master Chief, or anything else. Only certain aspects of Noble-6 are mine.

As the lifepod screamed through the rings atmosphere, Cortana suddenly yelled "We're coming in too fast!"

The lifepod passed inches from the top of a cliff, trailing smoke. Chris activated his armor lock as the pilot shouted "Damn! Air brake failure! They blew too early! I'm losin' her. Brace for impact!" John watched through the front screen rapidly approached the unyielding ground. Suddenly there was an almighty crash and his vison went black.

"Chief? Chief! Can you hear me?" John heard as if he was a far distance away from the source."I'm okay." he mumbled as he climbed to his feet.

"At last! Are you alright? Can you move?" Cortana asked.

John groaned as he stood. "I'm fine." he reminded her. He slowly scanned his surroundings and shook his head at what he saw.

"The others... the impact. There's nothing we can do." Cortana said quietly. Suddenly a grey armored figure outside moaned.

Chris pushed himself into a sitting postion, despite his protesting back. "Chris, are you alright?" John asked, extending his hand to help the fallen soldier up.

Chris ignored his hand and rose to his feet. "I'm fine!" he snapped. "Recon the area, I'll gather the supplies." he ordered the green Spartan-II.

John nodded his understanding and walked toward a waterfall in the distance. As he neared the pool at its base, Cortana told him "I'm reading thousands of types of flora. The ring's ecosystem is increadibly sophisticated."

As John and Cortana secured the area, Chris gathered the supplies that had scattered on impact. As he rigged twin belts of extra grenades to the ships engine's, Auntie Dot made herself known. "Chris, I understand where you stand, but ease up on John. Believe it or not, you two must work together as a team. If not, I seriously doubt either of you will survive." she told him.

"NO! Why should I cut him some slack! He probably signed up for the Spartan-II unit thinking he could just kick some Innie, then Covie, ass then just sit in the lap of luxury! He probably just took credit at least half of the kills on his record!" Chris exploded. He fell to his knees as his vision tunneled and turned crimson.

"Chris, when the last time you took your anti-psychotics?" Dot asked, suddenly worried.

"The day before we were given the mission to destroy Castle Base." Chris answered, clamoring to his feet as John came back into view.

As the pair of Spartans loaded up on supplies, Cortana suddenly warned "Warning! I've detected multiple Covenant drop ships on approach. I recommend moving into those hills. If we're lucky, the Covenant will believe that everyone aboard this lifeboat diedd in the crash."

"I'm also detecting two incoming Banshees, mostly from nearby patrol." Dot added as the pair ran across a narrow bridge that spanned a ravine that lead to a fatal fall over a thousand foot cliff.

As they set foot on the other side, Cortana informed them "Alert! Covenant dropships inbound! They must be looking for survivors. I recommend immediate evasion!".

Chris activated his active camo and John crouched behind some massive boulders, just in time for the Spirit dropship and twin Banshees screamed into the area. The Banshees quickly settled into orbit around the area as the dropship dropped down to unload its troops. Chris drew his pistol and targeted the grenades barely visible in the lifeboat. As soon as a Sangheili Minor peered his head inside the downed boat, Chris fired and nailed the frag grenade. Suddenly the whole ship was engulfed inflames, and half of the lance was killed by the blast.

As Chris mopped up the remaining Unggoy, John had a more dire problem. As soon as the lifeboat was destroyed, Cortana warned John "Alert! The Banshee's have detected us, here they come." John dove to the side as a Banshee's Plasma Cannon round exploded right where he had been. He raised his assult rifle and scanned the skys. He just spotted them as they made a second pass. He opened fire on them as they made their approach, ignoring the plasma raining down around him. One dissapered in a ball of blue fire as John's rounds pierced its engines. The other broke off, trailing smoke from a damaged anti-gravity port. As it tried to wobble away, John hurled a frag grenade at it. The lethal device lodged itself it an opening between the body of the craft and its flight canopy. The pilot jumped from his doomed craft, just as his Banshee was destroyed. The Sangheili major landed on the edge of the cliff, teetered and fell foward as the edge gave under him. There he clung, as John walked over to him. He shouldered his smoking assult rifle and drew his pistol. Hr fired it once and the Sangheili started its long fall, long dead before it impacted the hard rocks at its base.

Once John readied his assult rifle, and Chris replaced his weapons with their Covenat variants, they continued further into the valley. After a brief encounter with another Covenat lance, they dropped down a small slump. "I'm reading a lifeboat beacon over the next hill. We should check to see if there any survivors." Cortana informed them. John and Chris continued, egar to begin this fight.


	9. Flawless Cowboy Part 2

A/N: As always I don't own Halo, 343i does.

As the pair of Spartans rounded the bend of the valley, they saw a squad of Marines fending off a Covenant lance from atop a mysterious structure. As they moved into range, John opened fire with his assult rifle, while Chris hurled a plasma grenade. Unggoy fell as the grenade attached itself to the plasma rifle of the Sangheili cordinating the lance. With a roar, the mighty alien chucked the doomed weapon toward John. The Spartan-II cursed as he dropped flat. The projectile flew over his body and collided with a massive tree. The resulting explosion knocked everyone in the valley off their feet and engulfed the tree.

As Chris picked himself up, he felt something pierce his armor. He looked down to see a shard of pink crystal embeded in his chest plate. He gulped, reconizing the signiture ammo of a needler. As he reached to remove it, the shard exploded. He grunted as his armor bucked, absorbing the energy from the tiny explosion. He looked as he stood, pinpointing the Unggoy who had shot him. Chris smiled, jumping and activating his jetpack. The Unggoy minor was trying franticly to reload when it looked up as a shadow fell across him. The alien had only time to curse the Prophets before Chris's armored boot crushed it's chest.

As Chris shook the dead Unggoy off his foot, John cordinated with the remaining Marines, killing most of the aliens, leaving only the Sangheili minor alive. Weaponless, it charged John. John countered its wild charge with a side step an a forearm across its throat. The blow was enough to fell the mighty warrior. As the alien rolled to get up, John ended its life with a curbstomp to the skull.

John and Chris, who was now sporting the Needler instead of his pistol, walked over to the ramp leading to the top level of the structure. Two familiar Marines walked down and met the two Spartans. John gave a start, remembering them from the action onboard on of Reach's stations. "Good to see you, sirs! I thought we were the only ones to make it off the _Pillar of Autumn_!" Private Bisenti said.

"It's a mess, sirs." Johnson sighed. "We're scattered all over this valley. Wecalled for evac, but until you showed up, I thought we were cooked." he informed them.

"Don't worry, Sergeant. We'll stay here until evac arrives." Cortana informed him.

Suddenly, a voice went over their COMs. The Marine's FOF tag ID'd him as Private Mendoza. "Heads up! I got a Covenant dropship headin' in, over here!" he cried.

John ran up the ramp as Chris used his jetpack to jump the structure. Chris was near the apex of his jump when he was nearly struck by a bolt of energy. He swerved and started to tumble, out of control. He just managed to get control back when the jetpack shutdown. "Fuuuuck!" he yelled as he fell. He landed on the roof of the ascending Spirit, crashing through one of its troop bays. The crippled ship limped away. Chris wasn't so lucky. The impact knocked his helmet off and knocked him out.

John ran to the other side of the structure just in time to witness Chris crash. With a mild curse, John leapt down, his shields flairing as the absorbed the impact. As he ran foward, killing Unggoy left and right. he came face to face with a vulture like Kig- yar. The alien raised its shield, hissing a warning. It ducked behind its shield as John's rounds flew toward it. It quickly over charged its plasma pistol and shot John. John grunted, falling to his knees, feeling the heat of the bolt wash across his chest. His shields flickered and died. The Kig- yar advanced, preparing the shot that would vaporized John's head from existence. As the Kig- yar was easing up on the trigger, it stiffened up. It looked down at itself, when a pink explosion ripped the alien apart. John looked up to see Chris standing there, helmet in one hand and a half empty needler in the other. John picked himself up and walked to the grey spartan-III. "Are you okay, sir?" John asked.

Chris wiped a trickle of blood that leaked from his mouth before reattaching his helmet. "No, I'm not okay! I just fell 100 feet before punching stright through a Spirit dropship hard enough to knock me out and rip my helmet off!" he snapped.

John backed off, raising his hands. "Okay, okay. No need to bite my head off." he said. Chris just grunted and walked toward where an Sanghili minor was harrasing a bunch of marines. Chris ran up to the Sanghili, knocking it down from jumping on its back, and driving Emile's knife through its eye.

Chris walked back to the structure and met up with John on the top. John tried to place a comforting hand on Chris's shoulder, but Chris just shrugged him off. As they both reloaded and dressed their various injuries from the crash, they heard a whine from above as Mendoza cried out "Look sharp! Covenant dropship on approach! I could use some help over here!" John turned in time to see the Spirit open fire to keep the humans at bay as it unloaded its cargo and flew away.

Both Spartans leapt from the top level as the Marines prepared to cover them with assult rifle and pistol fire. John's assult rifle rattled death and Chris's needler spat lethal pink needles. As John mowed down Unngoy and Kig-yar, Chris spotted the Sangheili major directing the assult. He unsheathed his knife and launched his holgram ability. The hologram ran toward the major, Chris right behind it. The Sangheili drew his fist back and drove it through the hologram and into Chris's visor. Chris's head snapped back and he slumped to the dirt.

John spotted them as the Sangheili picked up Chris by the throat. John fired on the major, but the bullets barley fazed him. The major drew back its fist and activated the energy dagger above its wrist, preparing to drive it into the spartan-III. John's rifle ran empty and he cast it aside, drawing his pistol. He took careful aim, knowing he had only one shot. He fired just as the blade desended. The round pierced the Sanfheili's shields and breached the contaiment unit that contain the plasma for the energy dagger. The plasma shot out and burned through the shields and then the Sangheili's head. The mighty Covenant warrior fell without a word.

Chris coughed and picked himself up. He walked over to where the major laid and started kicking the fallen warrior. He kicked him until the body was unreconizable and he was covered in purple blood. As he finished his assult, he turned his face to the sky and let out a shriek of pure rage. John walked over and tried to find out what was wrong with Chris, when Chris said "Touch me and I will end you." without turning and facing John. John withdrew and walked back to the structure.

As John had made it to the top of the structure. Mendoza shouted out "Uh-oh, another bandit droppin' in behind us! They're tryin' to flank us!" Twin shadows arced over head as two dropships landed on the far side of the structure. John hurried to take on the one on the far side of the structure, and Chris walked to the one on the far side of the trees.

John dropped down and came to face to face with two lance's worth of Unngoy and Jig-yar. John dropped low as a wave of sizziling plasma and crystaline shards rushed past where he once was. John rolled a pair of frag grenades past the wall of Kig-yar shields. The grenades detonated, decimating the bird-like Covenant, and stunning the Unngoy. As the dimitive aliens staggerd, John raised his assult rifle and slaughtered the Unngoy.

After making sure no aliens still lived, John turned to make toward where the sounds of Chris fighting the Covenant sounded. John turned around the tree's trunk to see a scene straight from Hell. Covenant bodies laid every where, some so mangled they were unidentifiable as what species they were. On the slight ridge in the middle of the carnage stood Chris. His once grey armor was now an purplish color from all the blood that drenched him. He just stood there, glaring at John. John slowly backed away. "Cortana, you better call for evac before any more Covenant arrive." he told his AI.

But before she could contact any possible rescue, a Pelican roared over head. "This is Pelican Echo 419. Anybody read me? Repeat: any UNSC personnel, respond." said pilot Carol "Foehammer" Rawley.

"Roger, Echo 419. This is Fire Team Charlie. We read you. Is that you, Foehammer?" Cortana radioed back.

"Roger, Fire Team Charlie. Good to hear from ya!" Foehammer replied.

"Any word on Keyes?" Cortana asked.

"Negitive, but a bit of good news. Major Silva and his ODST's are currently securing a mesa to surve as a base of operations." Foehammer told them.

"Good. If you're not too busy, Foehammer, we could use a lift. We have survivors to transport to the mesa." Auntie Dot informed the circling Pelican.

"I'm on my way." Foehammer said as she begun her descent.

A roar suddenly filled everyone's ears. John and Chris looked up to see a trio of Bumblebee lifeboats streak across the sky. "Look, more lifeboats! They're coming in fast. If those lifeboats make it down, the Coveant are going to be right on top of them." Cortana said. "Foehammer, we need you to disengage you Warthog. The Master Chief and the Lieutenant are going to see if they can save some soldiers." Cortana radioed to the desending air ship.

"Roger, Cortana." Foehammer said. E-419 came to a stop inches from the dirt, it's thrusters kicking up a cloud of dust. The Warthog was released from the clamps holding it and it landed with a thud. A Marine stepped out of the back of the Pelican. His FOF tag identified him as PFC M. Fitzgerald. He climbed up the back of the massive vehicle and manned the turrent. "Okay, Charlie Team, Warthog deployed. Saddle up and give 'em hell!" Foehammer wished them luck.

"Roger, Foehammer. Stand by to evac survivors and transport them to safety." Cortana informed her.

"That's affirmative. Echo 419 staying on station. Foehammer out." Foehammer signed out. The Marines loaded up and were quickly farried off.

John claimed the drivers spot while Chris rode shotgun. They quickly made their way to the other end of the valley to see if there was a way to find the downed lifeboats and to save some soldiers.


	10. No shit Sherlock

A/N: First, I would like to apoligize for the shortness and lateness of the next three chapters. The shortness is just how the level divides up in my mind. The reason for it being late is that I started college this fall. Also, I don't own Halo.

As John steared the massive Warthog toward the far end of the valley, the only sound was the roar of the engine and the crunch of gravel under the massive wheels. John turned the massive vehicle around a corner, when Cortana broke the silence. "This cave is not a natural formation. Someone built it, so it must _lead_ somewhere." she said as the entrance to a tunnel appeared.

"No shit, Sherlock." Chris told her, his blood still boiling from the events at the complex. He then got the sensation of being smacked on the back of the head from Auntie Dot.

"No back talking to the A.I.'s" she scolded him. He grumbled something to her that would make a fishmongers wife blush. The sensation of being smacked on the back of the head shifted to a check and got a lot more inteanse.

"Did you just slap him?" Cortana asked Dot, who was monitering the entire conversation.

"Yes. He deserved it for what he said to me." Dot said, a huff in her voice.

Getting back to business, Cortana informed the Chief of what she was doing. "I've hacked into the Covenant battlenet. They're actually broadcasting tactical data on unencrypted channels! We should show them who they're dealing with. Master Chief, I'm going to use your suit's transponder system to monitor their chatter."

"I'll do the same with you, Chris" Dot said.

After navigating the dark tunnels, they came acrros a small gap on top of a ramp. "Well, what are we going to do now?" Fitzgerald asked the Spartans.

John threw the massive vehicle into reverse and backed down the ramp until the rear fender crashed into the wall. "Hold on!" he said as the gears ground as John forced the Warthog into drive. The vehicle accelerated up the ramp and flew off the end. With a mighty crash, the Warthog landed on the far side with a flip. All three occupants flew from the vehicle.

"Lets not do that again." Chris said with a groan as the three of them picked themselves up. They walk over to where the Warthog was resting on it's roof.

"Well, this is just dandy. How are we going continue now?" Fitzgerald asked, kicking the Warthogs side.

John walked over, gripped the underside of the vehicle and pulled. The massive vehicle shifted, creaked, and groaned before landing back on its massive tires. Chris felt enraged by this, it was as if the Spartan-II did it just to mock him. Chris started to go for his needler, but before he could reach it he armor stopped responding to him. "Chris, no! I know you are not on your meds, and you have the rivalry with John, but you can't just shoot him in cold blood. Until you stop this, I'm filtering your movements." Auntie Dot told him. He ranted and raved for a few seconds, the others not hearing him, as Dot muted his external speakers. Calming back down, he climbed back in the passenger seat and they drove off again.

After several more turns they came across a massive cavern crawling with Covenant. John floored it, planning to cross the cavern quickly while having Fitzgerald covering the rear with the AA gun. John thundered into the room and the gun thundered to life. Several members of the Covenant dissovled into multicolored mist as the Warthogg's massive wheels crushed a Sangheilli minor's head. As they approached the middle of the room, Chris threw the vehicle's emergancy brake. John hit the steering wheel, Fitzgerald slammed into the gun, and Chris went through the windshield. He slid across the hood and only managed to grab onto one of the tow hooks. "Back up! Back up now!" he shouted as he dangled over a bottomless pit that spanned the middle of the room.

John shoved to Warthog into revese and floored it. Chris was soon safe, but the Covenant got over the shock of having the humans roar into their midst. "Fuck! I'm hit!" Fitzgerld shouted as he fell of the back of the Warthog, a piece of Needler ammo emmbeded in his bicep. As he impacted the ground, the round exploded. The battle hardened marine roared in pain. John leapt from the driver seat to tend to their injured gunner. Chris scrambled over to the gunner postion and opened up with it.

John grabbed the biofoam from the medpack in the Warthog and inserted the nozzle into the wound. Fitzgerld ground his teeth as the sensation of a thousand fire ants crawling and biting the gaping wound assulted his body. John had just slapped a dressing on the area when Chris shouted "Master Chief, I need assistance ASAP!" as a shower of needler rounds bounced off the shield on the gun. John got Fitzgerld settled in the passenger seat before coming to Chris's aid.

As Chris pounded the Covenant positon with high caliber rounds, John stalked their flank, sticking to the numerous shadows. Once he got into position he primed and rolled a frag. It detonated, shredding Unngoy and Kig-yar alike. John walked out of his hiding place and started mowing down the survivors. Those who tried to run got destroyed by Chris's gunfire. When the last one fell, silence ruled the room. Both Spartans met at the edge. "Even at maximum speed, you can't jump it with a Warthog." Dot informed them.

"Then there must be some mechanism to cross this cavern. Look for a control panel or switch." Cortana said. Both Spartans took a side of the massive cavern. As Chris walked near the inner wall, he noticed a gap in it. He pulled out his needler and creapt up the ramp. He noticed a pair of shadows on the wall at the top of the ramp that shimmered out of existence as he looked. Shifting the needler to his other hand, he primed a frag and bounced it of the wall in front of him. It detonated, shredding the shielding of the Sangheili major and minor that was trying to approach him. He fired his needler and the minor exploded into a pink and blue cloud.

The major took advantage of Chris trying to reload the depleted weapon. It swung it's plasma rifle at his head. Chris danced back, out of range, and unleashed the now fully loaded needler. The major evaded the flury of pink death that shot toward him. Chris activated his sprint and met the Sangheili as he finished his roll. With a flick of his wrist, Emile's knife appeared in his hand. The Sangheili grinned, drawing a crystal dagger. They aproached each other and swung their knives. Sparks danced as the two battled, their moves bringing them with in a hairs breath of each others for a split second before their momentum spun them away.

Soon Chris started to tire. "I need to finish this now." he growled to himself. As the Sangheili swung his blade, Chris brought up his arm. The crystaline blade slid easily pass his shield, but then shattered as it came into contact with the plate on his arm. The Sangheili major stumbled from the lack of resistence. As the alien fell past, Chris caught it with one arm, while driving the kukri deep into it's back. The Sangheili gurgled and then slumped. Chris withdrew his blade and tossed the corpse aside.

He walked back up the ramp, stepped over the bits of the minor, and continues past the corner until he came across a holo-panel. He studied it for a few minutes. As he studied it, he thought he heard a female voice in his head. He shook his head, for it didn't belong to Auntie Dot. It persisted, directing his attention to a specific symbol. He reached out and touched it. In the abyss below a set of prongs apperared from each side and began to glow with energy. Slowly a bridge slowly apeared from thin air.

Down below, John watched the bridge appear. "The photons are exicting the air, essentally making it solid. What in hell did he do?" Cortana mused. John walked over to the bridge and carefully placed his boot on it. It was solid and so he place his other boot on it. It held his weight. He then walked back to where the Warthog sat, with Fitzgerld still sitting in the passanger seat. They heard a whooshing sound as Chris landed beside them, the jetpack he wore folding back up as it shut down.

"Hold this. Just don't use it on anything that is too close to us." Chris said as he handed the needler to Fitzgerld.

"Will do, Sir!" Fitzgerld said. Chris climbed into the gunner position, as John started up the massive vehicle. They drove quickly over the bridge and into the tunnels beyond.

As they drove through the winding tunnel, both A.I.'s picked up an tibit from the Covenant chatter. "New traffic in the Covenant battlenet. A lot more crew made it off the _Autumn_ than we had predicted. The Captain really gave them hell! If we can find Captain Keyes and other survivors, we have a chance to coordinate effective resistance." they told their respective carriers. Both Spartans grinned, as they roared out of the tunnels into the bright sunlight.


End file.
